A blog by Eunice

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Monthly Archives: May 2013

This post is dedicated to my friend Diana, I thank her for all her support in and outside of this blog. She wanted to know how I got those nice, smexy waves in some of my posts, so here is for her. I hope this answers your question if you were wondering how I got my wavey hair look. As a precaution, even though the title says “no heat”, I lied and used heat to blow dry my hair, but you can air dry your hair too, I’m just to impatient to wait for it to dry.

This technique works great for any length of hair, although I would suggest to only curl/wave your hair if it is past shoulder length. Otherwise, after making your hair even shorter, your hair may look a bit too bulky around your head and make your face look larger than its actual size. This technique is also good for people who have naturally straight or almost straight hair who want to have temporary wavy hair.

Let’s start!

Step 1: Wash, Comb and Prep your Hair with Heat Protectors

Step 2: Blow dry or Air dry your hair until it is 80% dry

You can dry it as little and as much as you want. The drier the easier the waves will fall out, the more most the more defined the wave. I would still dry it at least to 50% so that you do not get sick while sleeping with wet hair.

Step 3: Part your hair in 2 and french braid both sides

We’ll be making two big french braid. First, part your hair in two. Pick up 2 inches of hair from one side of your part and start braiding two rotations. One rotation is two twists left and right. Then we start french braiding. French braiding isn’t much harder than normal braids. All you have to do is grab an extra parcel of hair from underneath the braid and keep adding hair after each rotation. After you have no more hair to add to your french braid, continue braiding until you get to the end of your part and tie with a hair tie. Do the same for the other half of your hair. I like to braid both parts to the same side because I look like a farmer’s daughter with two braids, one braid looks more chic for me, but that’s just a personal preference.

Done one braid, onto the next!

TADA! Done! Now go sleep!

Step 4: Get some beauty sleep and carefully take out those braids

Do your normal morning routine. Then time to fix your hair.

Take out the hair ties, and take out each braid one by one. You don’t want to take out multiple braid at one time or you will mess up the waves.

After you have taken out all the braids, softly puff out your hair to make your waves more natural looking.

Step 5: Spray your hair with Beach Spray (optional)

This step is optional, but if you have beach spray, it will make your waves more defined with its salt ingredients.

After you spray your hair, bunch a clump or hair and scrunch, do this for all your hair, so that all your waves get some of that product.

Step 6: Hair Spray your waves

Fix your hair with hair spray that does not clump your hair. Clumpy waves is a big No NO! Hair Spray will allow your waves to last all day!

Step 7: Straighten your bangs (if any)

If you have bangs, straighten them out to finish your look. You can add hair oil to control flyaways and you’re all done! Hooray! This hair technique only took me 2 minutes in the morning, so it’s good for days when I accidentally slept in. Oops 🙂

DONE!

If you aren’t good with braiding, practice makes perfect, before I made my waves this way, I didn’t know how to french braid!

This technique also puts less damaging heat on your hair; if you air dry your hair, even better, no heat!

Here’s how the end product looks:

Hope you found this helpful! This look is just perfect for the warm weather!

As I promised, today I have an OOTD with a bright statement, a neon yellow blazer. With this, anyone is sure to stand out from the crowd, neon blazer are actually more versatile than you would think. You can pair them with jeans and a tee for a casual everyday look, with your business formal black&white work clothes, with some nice yellow trousers for a monochrome pantsuit, or with a nice party dress to add some colour to your LBD (Little Black Dress), white dress, pastel dress, patterned dress, dark coloured dress, or metallic dress. As you can see, this neon blazer is actually reusable for any occasion.

Today I felt like wearing my neon blazer in a casual outfit, but knowing me, plain blue jeans will not be in this OOTD. Instead, I’ve paired the blazer with a pair of faux leather pants. A casual outfit cannot go wrong with a white graphic tee. Throw on some shades, booties and bling bling and it’s all complete. Now it’s time to hop to the pictures!

Oh! This blazer also has a bit of colour blocking. There’s a tan coloured panel under the colour and in the inside of the blazer, so if you want to add colour blocking to your outfit too, just roll up your sleeves and pop that collar!

Black Chrome BIrd’s Cage Bangle: JewelMint $29.99

These have a small hidden wedge in them to give you a little lift without being too obvious

These leather pants are actually very breathable and very thin, so you won’t break a sweat in 20 degree weather

If you are getting too warm, then you can ditch that jacket!… or just leave it in your car.

That’s it for today, hope you can find your own neon blazer! Let me know what neon colour you would buy! Also, let me know if you find any cheap finds!

I haven’t posted anything on the blog lately. For one, I have been in a spell of bumming around lately and I don’t feel like my outfits are awe-inspiring enough to broadcast. The other is the fact that I am in school right now and struggling to keep up with my readings for my six courses, so I’ve been “trying” to study. After all that reading, blogging makes me feel so much more alive. It’s probably because this is something I am passionate about doing, whereas studying is a passive means to be a successful career woman in the future. Tip of the day, you won’t know what you want to do in life if you don’t try doing anything. Say if you think you want to be a doctor, go to the hospital and be a volunteer; if you like products and want to be a marketer, establish a strong self-brand first; if you like to fight for justice, go help out at a local law firm. So, if you won’t try, you won’t know.

Okay, I better stop boring you with my emo phase. In Ontario, we have been experiencing early spring weather, so it was time to whip out those pants and leather jackets. I felt like matching the leather detailing on these khaki pants with leather boots and a leather jacket. Adding a hat and you have yourself a military inspired ensemble. Any other edgy pieces may be too much miltary, so I added a white Victorian-lace shirt, a casual lace baseball cap and a neon-orange cross-body bag. Let’s go check some pictures!

Thanks for supporting my blog since it’s birth a few weeks ago. As a thank you, tomorrow I will be having an uber bright OOTD post and a tutorial on this curly hair I have been having in several of my posts. Please anticipate them!

I’m really loving these OOTD posts, they are so much easier to plan than my normal posts, but don’t worry I’ll be going back to normal tutorials and hauls this weekend.

I didn’t know if these sandals count as gladiators, but ah well, it is now. Also, I couldn’t miss out on a chance to wear my peplum top and my pearl bib necklace. So you can see all of these fab items this OOTD.

I’ve been feeling like RED these days, so all my outfits and makeup have something with red. I guess since my backpack is red, I cheated and have red everyday! My makeup today, used red for the eye. Let me know if you would like a makeup tutorial on bright red eyes without looking like you got punched in the eyes.

Today, after class I felt bored at home, so I tested my new curling wand and curled my hair for this OOTD. I’ll be posting a tutorial on my wavy hair from yesterday’s OOTD, but I might also post a tutorial for these curls at a later date.

First official OOTD post. Let me know if you like these either on Facebook or commenting down below. If the general consensus is that these are awesome and much loved, then I’ll keep posting these! Otherwise, they will just be one lonely pic of special OOTDs on Instagram/Twitter.

If you don’t know OOTD mean Outfit Of The Day. Yay, lesson learned!

This past weekend, I went back home to Toronto and went hunting for summer dresses. Knowing me, the dresses needed to be eye-catching, unique and edgy. Tick, tick and tick for this White Lacey Dress from Forever 21 for $39.95 CAD.

I guess it’s my shopaholic needs, but once I buy something, I ought to wear it ASAP! Thus, I chose to wear it today to school and stick out like a sore thumb in this humid 28 degree weather. What a bad idea it was, but at least it was breezy and I got lots of compliments, mostly “I love your dress” and “OMG, what’s the special occasion!” Ladies (and Gents), let me tell you, you can wear whatever you want, if you stick out like a sore thumb, so be it, wear whatever makes you confident in your own skin.

Last comment before we jump to the pics, I couldn’t resist strapping on my trusty military boots from my previous ALDO haul post for this outfit, it just added that bit of me into this girly ensemble.

Recently aside from my lipstick craze, I was on the hunt for some perfect summer shoes. I ended buying 7 pairs of shoes, but I hope that’s the end of this shoe craze. Otherwise, my measly shoe rack at residence will actually break this time. My excuse is that these shoes will actually last me through the spring, summer and fall seasons, but obviously I know that deep down I will buy another pair of shoes if I see the “perfect” FALL shoes. Okay no more of my nonsense shopaholic desires and back to the reason why you are here, my shoe hauls. This post will mostly be filled with pictures of these beautiful finds, but I will also talk about my experience online shopping with ShoeDazzle and Aldo. As well some outfit ideas for my favourite pairs of shoes. LEGO!

This Californian shoe company headed by celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe has the latest styles for every type of female at affordable prices ($30-$50). When you sign up for their email subscription, they will personalize showrooms for you each month based on the quiz you completed at the beginning. If the showroom is not to your liking, you can browse through the many various styles they have available online. For me, I would place this as a cheaper version of ShoeMint, a compatible competitor to JustFab and a multi-faceted form of Steve Madden.

ShoeDazzle two types of membership, VIP or Non-VIP, VIP Membership requires a $9.95 fee each month, so you have to remind yourself each month if you want to opt out for that month. The benefit of VIP are free (or for Canada $5 off) shipping for your whole purchase, lower prices and the $9.95 fee you pay can be spent on your purchase for that month or saved for a future purchase. I opted into the VIP plan as the amount of discounts (approx. $3 per pair of shoes and $5 off shipping) they offered covered more than the $9.95 membership fee.

Since my purchase was over $100, the shipment took much longer to deliver to me as it was held at customs for over a week. I was frustrated as not only did I have to wait longer for my shoes, but I had to pay 15% taxes on top of my initial online order when I went to pickup my shoes. Thus a word of caution, read the small font at the bottom of each site’s shipping description, you may have to pay extra fees and taxes. Especially when orders are over $100 and shipping internationally, hidden fees are inevitable.This is my sole reason why I would not likely shop again with ShoeDazzle, the high shipping flat cost is large and would encourage me to buy more at once to minimize overall shipping costs, but those hidden fees greatly discourages me from buying more than two pairs of shoes.

Aside from this major problem of mine, the shoes are as I expected in terms of design, heel height and fit. For shoe size, I used the same size as I would at any old shoe store and they fit like a glove… on my feet that is. The soles of the shoes have not rubbed off yet; the grip on the soles are standard; the materials of the shoes are standard, however, initial wear of a few of the shoes give off a fake plastic smell, but after some wear, the smell goes away. These shoes are great for this season and I’m glad I tried ShoeDazzle out after signing up for their emails for over 2 years, but until I’m not a poor student who can’t pay for heavy shipping fees, I won’t be going back. Time for pics of the shoes!

FLUTTER in Blush ($41.50) Sneaker Wedges are so IN this season!

ANDREA in Cream ($38.50) Perfect for Weddings or any fancy Gala.

YUDIANA in Off White ($39.95) These can be a bit tall but after a bit of Heel Bootcamp, dancing and running in these will be no problem! Or maybe I’m just crazy!

PAT in White ($35.95) Looks like white is a trend for my shoes… maybe I should get some colour.

DEBBIE in Pink ($29.95) Gladiators of the Year! Too bad it doesn’t have a heel.

Aldo is a Canadian Brand Name that you can see in almost every shopping mall in Canada, or at least Ontario. I can almost always find a shoe, bag or accessory that I would love to buy when I walk into the store. Once in a while, their online site offers sales for shoes that may not be found in each store, at times like these, I would rather buy the shoes online and secure a shoe in my size. If I receive the shoe and do not like the design, fit or material I can always return it at the store in the local mall. Shoes can run from 30% to 70% off during its online sales. My recent finds are not meant for the hot sandal weather but are perfect styles for the spring and fall. They also give me a bit of height without being 5″+, so I can walk to school or work in these.

Before this purchase, I have shopped online at ALDO on three other occasions, so my shopping experience was pretty standardized, here’s a quick recap. Also, for those in Canada, shopping at ALDO will not incur extra taxes and fees for you!

Quality of Products: 9/10(the soles come off or become run down easily)

Likelihood to Come Again: 80% Likelihood (dependent on future sales)

Overall: 9/10

DILGER in Black Suede ($52) Love the metallic heel detailing!

BINZARTA in Black ($60) Black military boots with heels! What a perfect combo! Did I mention the studs on the side!

How to Style

Now that I’ve bought all these shoes, how can I wear them?

Let’s try styling my favourite pairs, the sneaker wedge and the military booties!

Styling for a casual day.

For the sneaker wedges, you can pair any school outfit or casual day outfit. The best combo would be whatever pant colour that matches your shoes to elongate those beautiful legs of yours. For me, since my shoes are white and beige, I would pair shorts of any colour, white pants or khakis. The top can be any blouse, sweater or tee, whatever floats your boat.

Time to rock out in those boots!

These shoes also go with almost any outfit, but the best would be to roughen up a girly dress or blouse-skirt combo. I also like pairing military boots with outfits that already have a bit of punk-edge in it. Here, I paired my dark grey canvas vest from Forever21 with these boots to further elongate my figure. It kind of draw a line down towards my shoes. Oh and don’t forget a punch of retro and colour in your outfit with spunky sunglasses like these mint ones from ALDO.

Need more outfit ideas for all of these shoes? I’ll keep you posted on my Instagram account: @stylestickynotes

Leave a comment on your fave shoe shops or your experience with ShoeDazzle or ALDO!

I think the big question for lots of people when they go into the real world is “What should I and shouldn’t I wear in the workplace?” That’s a difficult question, but it doesn’t have to be.

1st: define your industry

First, let’s consider what industry you will be working in first. If you are working in a bank, outfits should be business casual to business formal; those in the fashion/marketing industry may be able to wear shorts; those in a start-up or game developing company may wear casual attire.

Wait! “What is this casual, business casual, business formal lingo you speak of?” Let me explain.

2nd: casual vs. business casual vs. business formal

These are just terms to categorize what is appropriate in the office.

Here are some rule of thumbs:

casual = anything you would wear on a normal day (be it jeans, sweats, but it is the workplace so try to tone down a bit on the ‘bling bling’)

business casual = cardigans, skinny pants, at least one or two parts of your outfit should shout business (e.g. blazer+graphic tee+black skinny pants)

I hope you have learned a bit about what to wear to work, now it’s time to get some inspiration from a few outfits I put together.

OUtfit #1: running to meetings

Royal Blue Blouse from Forever21Mint Belt from UniqloBlack Pencil Skirt from H&MBlack 40 den Tights from H&MBlack Tall Boots from Steve MaddenJust throw on a white blazer with leather lapels and you are ready to go!

OUtfit #2: Seeing stripes

Oxblood Blouse with Chiffon Sleeves from DynamiteGold Braided Belt from H&MBlack & White Stripped Pencil Skirt from H&MBlack 40 den Tights from H&MBrown Booties from Hong KongWarm up with a Military-esque tweed jacket and you can tackle all weather moods.

Outfit#3: All About the jacket

Leopard sunnies from H&MNavy Double-button Blazer from DynamiteWhite Chiffon Blouse from ZaraBlack Skinny Trousers from UniqloNow switch it up with a graphic cardigan, like this one from Forever21

Don’t forget the simple jewelry! I tend to stick to studs for earrings, a simple rose gold ring and a chain bracelet or pendant necklace. Nothing to extravagant you can save that for the employee appreciation dinner or the Galas.